a. Field of Invention
The invention relates to accessories for voting devices and, more particularly, to a specially-adapted utility cart for storage and/or transport and/or use of voting devices in a more convenient and secure manner.
b. Background of the Invention
There are a myriad of existing storage and transport carts currently in use for a wide variety of different applications. Some of these carts are adapted for carrying high-value electronic equipment, and others carry confidential high-security items. Utility carts for voting devices must combine both sets of attributes inasmuch as voting devices are high-value devices and require considerable security precautions. Moreover, voting devices are extremely heavy, requiring a very robust utility cart, and they must be thoroughly accessible by persons, inclusive of physically disabled persons, from outside the cart.
Most polling precincts in the United States utilize voting booths with specialized balloting terminals. In the past many precincts used terminals such as Datavote™ or Votomatic™, which required the voter to punch out a perforated rectangle (i.e., a chad) from a card using a stylus. There is a mask installed in the Votomatic, which reveals certain holes that are aligned with ballot book pages in the recorder, which in turn correspond to names of candidates or issues. The punched card was then taken and inserted into a precinct ballot counter, which is programmed to translate the hole and number to the particular candidate or issue.
Paper balloting can be hard for mobility impaired, vision impaired or non-English speakers to use. Consequently, electronic balloting terminals are gaining popularity and at least one or two are made available in each voting precinct. Indeed, the Help American Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 has mandated that, beginning in 2006, each polling place have at least one voting machine that is fully accessible for persons with disabilities. Currently, “direct recording electronic voting machines” (DREs) are the only machines at present that can fulfill this accessibility requirement. DREs typically entail a touch-screen ballot-marking machine with audio capability (usually via attached headphones). A DRE voting machine records votes, processes the data, and then records voting data and ballot images in memory. After the election it produces a tabulation of the voting data stored in a removable memory component and as printed copy.
There are many manufacturers of DREs including Diebold Election Systems, ES&S, Sequoia Voting Systems, Hart Intercivic, etc. For example, the AutoMARK™ voter assist terminal by AutoMARK Technical Services (ATS) is a ballot-marking terminal sized at approximately 2′×2′×1.5′) and features a fold-out 15″ full-color touch-screen display. Voters securely cast their vote for each race and/or ballot proposition simply through the touch of the screen or by way of audio guidance. When the voter inserts the ballot into the AutoMARK, an electronic version of the ballot appears on the screen and can be read electronically to the voter. Upon the voter's direction, the AutoMARK marks the ovals on the optical scan ballot.
Whether using a DRE or any other optical scan voting terminal the voter is provided with a completed paper ballot and the voter (or official) then inserts this ballot into an optical scan ballot counter for tabulation, after which the paper ballot is deposited into a sealed ballot box. Again, there are many manufacturers of ballot counters. For example, the ES&S Model M100 is an easy-to-use, high-speed central paper ballot counter and vote tabulator that processes at a speed of over 300 ballots per minute. The ES&S Model M100 Ballot Counter is approximately the size of a large computer server (approximately 2.5′×2′×4.5′). Diebold also sells its AccuVote-OS™, an optical scan voting tabulator that measures 14″×16″×3″ and weighs 13.7 pounds, and Sequoia™ manufactures its Insight Optical Ballot Reader of comparable size.
Voting precincts typically employ six to twelve voting booths, each with a balloting terminal (paper or electronic), optical scan voting tabulator, and ballot box. It is not an easy task for precinct workers to deliver, move in, set up, monitor, remove and return to storage this much voting equipment. Most precincts now either manually carry and transport the equipment on multiple trips or use standard utility carts similar to those which carry folding chairs. These generic utility carts normally comprise a simple platform mounted on wheels or casters to provide mobility. These carts may be provided with upwardly protruding side-rails to constrain the equipment. Such carts take no security precautions, and do not facilitate on-board access to the equipment. For voting devices one of the main functions of the cart is necessarily to provide a secure environment to prevent theft or tampering of the items stored within the cart. Nevertheless, the equipment for each voting booth (one ballot-marking/printing system together with optical scan ballot tabulator, and ballot box) is loaded onto the utility cart which is then wheeled into position (proximate the voting terminals) for use. Since the equipment is not accessible while on the cart, it must be off-loaded and the cart removed for voting. After voting the process is reversed.
It would be much more convenient to devise a utility cart that houses the voting equipment in a fully operable and accessible position, the ballot-marking terminal being approximately waist-level for easy access by standing or wheelchair voters, and the optical scan voting tabulator (which is much larger and heavier) positioned proximate the voting terminal and overtop the ballot box. To properly mount all three devices on a utility cart requires a multi-compartmentalized cart with robust mechanical restraints to protect against shifting of the equipment, robust security features to protect against theft and/or tampering with the equipment, and yet full frontal and side access to both pieces of equipment to allow access to and control of their consoles.